The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning
Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.
Who’d’a thunk it?
Spotted at the local library:
Putting the downspout inside the building probably made architectural sense, but I’d much rather have that pipe on the outside of the wall where a leak wn’t be so expensive.
It hasn’t leaked yet, but in a few months I won’t be surprised to learn my tax dollars were hard at work fixing the ensuing water damage.
Taken at maximum zoom through a grubby windshield, so the picture quality isn’t up to contemporary standards.
Today looks like a good day to fire up the snowblower and clear the driveway:
One of the bolts holding the muffler on the engine worked its way past its rebuilt locking plate and will require attention before getting out there.
Fortunately, it looks like a good day for shop projects …
Few enough folks stop by to make the bump from Hackaday’s mention of the Wasp Blower stand out:
Apparently Subaru fuses remain elusive and that old Thermador wall heater retains its hotness:
The WordPress AI came up with this prompt and image based on the minimal text above:
Gotta get me a workshop like that …
The AI Assistant says this post needs improvement:
Which is why I don’t use AI for anything …
Because the focus pen worked on the bench, I was certain this had to be true:
There is a break somewhere along the blue wire carrying 24 V to the focus pen. The signal and 0 V wires are fine.
I updated the original post, because I’m going to use that picture a lot whenever the subject of laser machine wiring comes up.
Obviously, I haven’t popped the top on this PC for a while:
Some fuzz made it past the grille:
PSA: In the unlikely event you still use a desktop PC, it’s time to pop the top on yours, too.
Looking at that big smashed-glass coaster from a different angle showed interesting patterns:
Although the larger fragments were still holding together when I laid them in their recesses, they apparently consist of several sub-fragments with larger continuous cracks letting the epoxy flow / ooze inside.
Now that I know what to look for, the original picture also shows them, albeit less distinctly:
They’re not obvious in the scanned image of the fragments, although I could convince myself I see some:
The many smaller fragments I’ve been turning into coasters probably separated from similar large chunks along such cracks, which is why I’ve never seen rivers of crack before.
Apologies if you arrived here expecting a tirade concerning the drug trade … :grin:
Do you see the Cooper’s Hawk?
Neither did I!
(The last three digits in the caption tick along at 60 frame/s. Opening each iamge in a new tab will let you embiggen the details, although the images aren’t all that great.)
The second wingbeat, over on the left, is more visible as the hawk lifts off:
This was about when I figured out what was going on:
A hawk can easily outfly me!
The snake dangling from the hawk’s talons didn’t see it coming, either:
Up and away!
About 2.3 s of elapsed time: plenty for a hawk and not nearly enough for me. Or the snake, for that matter.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 